The Last Mr Sinister Story
by alcimines
Summary: There are some people that you really, really, don't want to get mad at you.


THE LAST MR. SINISTER STORY

Rachel was not in the best of moods.

"Hello, Dr. Essex," Rachel said softly. She flatly refused to address the man she was talking to as "Mr. Sinister". It was far too melodramatic of a name for her tastes.

Trying not to show just how surprised he was, Essex immediately erected a formidable array of psychic barriers and shields. They were intended to enhance his base's existing telepathic defenses - which, until now, he had believed to be quite powerful. The fact that Rachel was able to project a psychic image into this particular base was proof of that they were not as potent as he had assumed.

"The image of Rachel flickered slightly as Essex's new defenses engaged, but she remained visible. Essex's eyes narrowed at that. He had thought that any psychic intruder would have been immediately banished.

"Hello, Miss Grey," Essex answered cautiously, "I must say that it is a pleasure to see you again."

"I'm afraid I can't say the same," Rachel replied with a shrug.

Essex kept his face expressionless. He had a great many options available to him. And the fact that Rachel was talking instead of acting was to his benefit.

What a silly girl, Essex thought to himself. Ultimately, he still had control of the situation and Rachel was wasting her advantage. Perhaps the culmination of the Summers and Grey lineages was not as formidable as he had always believed?

"How did you find me, Miss Grey?" Essex asked. He was genuinely curiously.

Rachel just shook her head. "Once, I was called a Hound. There's a good reason for that."

Essex understood the reference, but decided not to pursue the matter any further. It wouldn't be wise to do something that would give Rachel focus.

"And how may I help you?" Essex asked, deliberately keeping his tone smooth and urbane.

"I'm afraid you really can't," Rachel replied.

"A tiny ping came from a nearby control panel. Essex flicked his eyes in that direction, not allowing himself to become too distracted. It was vital that he keep his attention on Rachel.

"Something was wrong in the nursery...

""Kitty and Kurt just extracted your latest acquisition," Rachel said.

"Essex's eyes narrowed. "The mixed-race girl?"

"Rachel just nodded.

"There was a soft warbling sound that indicated that Essex's computer system was under attack. A moniter screen off to one side flickered to life, showing the source and nature of the attack. It was coming out of Wakanda and was brutally effective. All of Essex's network-dependent defenses were being crashed one by one. Even systems that were supposedly isolated from his internal network were failing. A few seconds ago, Essex would have said that was impossible.

"The list of people capable of such an attack was quite small. And only one of them lived in Wakanda.

"Do you know who the girl is?" Rachel asked. Her curiosity was obviously quite genuine.

"No," Essex replied shortly. Some of his agents had determined that the girl - just a toddler - was a mutant. Then they kidnapped the girl and delivered her to him. Essex had quite a few such operations deployed all over the world, and he couldn't be bothered to keep track of them all. They delivered a dozen or so promising mutants to his laboratory every year. He dealt with his new experimental subjects when time allowed. In this particular case he hadn't yet begun to examine the girl.

As he spoke, Essex cautiously extended a psychic probe in an effort to find a point of exploitable weakness. He immediately encountered a shockingly strong set of defenses. It was much more than any one mutant was capable of mustering. However, Essex knew what was happening.

Rachel had backup. If Essex had to make a guess, Betsy Braddock and Emma Frost were augmenting Rachel's already considerable powers.

That was bad.

Very bad.

A smile quirked across Rachel's lips. Then she shook her head in amazement. "Really? You honestly don't know who you kidnapped?"

Essex sighed in exasperation. "No, my dear, I do not. Would you care to tell me?"

He had to keep Rachel talking...

"The people that your agents killed were not her real parents," Rachel said softly. "Her actual parents thought it would be best to conceal her existence. So they kept her hidden. I now see that it was sheer bad luck that your people found her."

It now seemed to Essex that he could hear the howling of wind. There was a storm outside. Of course, since his base was located twenty meters underground - in solid bedrock and behind massively armored walls - the magnitude of the storm had to be incredible in order to be heard.

"Stop playing games with me, Miss Summers!" Essex snapped. "Say what you have to say!"

The smile on Rachel's face was now as cold as ice.

"Her actual name is N'Dare Charlene Howlett," Rachel said quietly.

Essex tried not to react. He really tried. But he couldn't help but close his eyes and curse softly.

Then Essex flinched as the sound of rending metal began echoing through the base. Something - multiple somethings - was cutting and tearing their way through the corridors leading down into his base. The thud and howl of energy fire erupted. Explosions caused the floor to tremble and rock.

The dying computer began sending distorted emergency messages warning of perimeter breach, massive defensive forces casualties, and catastrophic system failure. The blurred combination of warnings made it sound like the computer was screaming in pain.

Essex slapped a button on a nearby control panel. The teleporter - his final escape system - failed to engage.

Staring at the control panel, Essex tried to think of something, anything, that would help.

But there was nothing left.

"Dr. Essex..." Rachel said suddenly. For the first time, Essex thought he could see human concern in Rachel's eyes.

Trembling, but trying to keep his composure, Essex looked at Rachel.

"Let Logan, or Daken, or Laura finish you," Rachel continued softly. "For the love of God, don't let Ororo take you."

Then Rachel vanished.

Essex swallowed hard, then tried to overload the base's fusion power-plant. That would be much cleaner than what was coming for him.

That didn't work either.

Essex wasn't really surprised.


End file.
